1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to methods, systems and apparatus for managing digital communications systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies provide potentially large bandwidth for digital communication over existing telephone subscriber lines (referred to as loops and/or the copper plant). In particular, DSL systems can adjust to the characteristics of the subscriber line by using a discrete multitone (DMT) line code that assigns a number of bits to each tone (or sub-carrier), which can be adjusted to channel conditions as determined during training and initialization of the modems (typically transceivers that function as both transmitters and receivers) at each end of the subscriber line.
As DSL systems operate over a wider variety of environments, the management of DSL systems becomes more challenging. DSL system management has typically operated by collecting operational data from the DSL system and imposing usually static rules to set the DSL system control parameters. Such rules (or conventions, thresholds, relationships, etc.) are typically derived manually (for example by performing lab experiments to determine relationships between the operational data and the system control parameters). Thus, as DSL systems proliferate, DSL system management requires greater efforts to determine appropriate rules and conventions.
Systems, apparatus, methods and techniques providing self-learning and/or self-adjusting DSL management and control systems would represent a significant advancement in the art. Also, systems, apparatus, methods and techniques for such self-learning and/or self-adjusting DSL management systems that can automatically and autonomously derive rules, conventions, thresholds and relationships likewise would represent a significant advancement in the art.